There are many factors that may be analyzed to assess the health of an organization. One could look to a stock price or net profits to determine the financial stability of a given organization. As used herein, the term “organization” is intended to include, but is not limited to, a company, corporation, entity, individual, or the like. Another method for assessing the vitality of an organization is to compare the performance of the organization against like organizations. A comparison between like organizations may provide a more accurate representation of an organization's performance than a stock price or net profit, which may fluctuate as a result of general market trends.
Furthermore, a comparison of like organizations may allow for industry specific characteristics to be addressed. For example, in the pharmaceutical industry where most sales are secured through sales representatives directly visiting health care providers, it may be helpful to determine how an organization's profit per sales representative compare to the industry average. Alternatively, in an industry with heavy research and development, a company's strength could be gauged based upon the amount of investment in research and development, as compared to other organizations within the industry.
However, given that this information may be valuable to competitors; many organizations maintain such sensitive information in confidence. As a result, it is often difficult to determine industry standards. Returning to the examples above, an organization may not share the amount invested in research and development or the size of their sales force for fear that transparent exposure of such information could be utilized by competitors in an adverse fashion. In instances where an industry is comprised of non-publicly traded companies lacking regulatory reporting requirements, gathering such information may be further burdensome.
Despite concerns regarding the public release of such sensitive information, many organizations realize the benefit of aggregating such information. Gathering data specific to a given industry may allow for the creation of industry benchmarks. These benchmarks may be utilized by organizations to gauge their performance within a specific industry. Returning to the examples above, a drug developer may benefit from understanding how their research and development budget compares to competitors within the pharmaceutical industry
As a result, organizations may benefit from sharing organization specific information wherein the information can not be effectively linked to the specific source. In addition, organizations require an effective method of displaying such information.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method for aggregating industry specific information and displaying such information without divulging the specific source of the information.